Surviving the Hell that is Highschool
by missbliss
Summary: Au, B/A, Buffy and group in Hi.School, a new student appears, scooby gang issues ensue...
1. Default Chapter

The First Day  
  
A/n: Okay.new story! I needed a break to contemplate the direction my other one is going, and I've have really like some of the au stories that I've found, which led to thoughts.and then ideas.and then the urge to write something. I have so many ideas for this one that I just hope they don't get all mixed up and become undistinguishable mush in my head..! Well, please review!  
  
Disc.: None of the characters are mine.etc.etc.etc.  
  
Summary: AU; Buffy and co. are in high school, junior year (season II BtVs- like). Everything happed in Season I except for Angel-he did not make an appearance, and is unheard of.until a new student shows up at SHS! (I still am trying to decide whether to make him a normal human being or (evil laugh).something else;-)  
  
Feedback is good!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Bbbrriiingggbbrrining!!!!!!!  
  
Ugh. I hate getting up early.  
  
A small hand reached out from under a mass of covers and slammed down on top of the offensively loud alarm clock, effectively silencing it. Why does school have to start so early in the morning? Why can't it start at noon and get out at five or something, so people like me could actually get a healthy amount of sleep. After all, being up until the very early morning stalking demons in cemeteries doesn't really constitute as rest.  
  
"Buffy, honey, are you up? It's seven o' clock, and your first day back at school!" Joyce Summers voice rang through the hallway into her daughter's room, overly awake and cheerful for what Buffy considered to be way too early.  
  
"Yeah, mom. I'm up," Buffy replied, her voice gravelly from just waking up. With that she slowly pushed her covers back and stretched out, a yawn escaping from her mouth. As much as she didn't like school, she was looking forward to seeing all of her friends again after being away most of the summer, and she was sure Giles would be expecting to hear from her soon, too, after last night's patrol-so she got out of bed and dragged herself across the hallway to the bathroom, deciding that maybe splashing cold water on her face might wake her up a little, but then after actually doing this, deciding that icy cold water is a cruel way to wake up in the morning. Maybe I should just try the really strong coffee thing like so many of my teachers rely on.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Okay, honey, have a good day!" Joyce said as her daughter was stepping out of the car. She watched her as she quickly checked her reflection in the small visor-mirror, and smiled, thinking about when she was Buffy's age, and how big her little girl was getting, how grown up, almost seventeen.  
  
"Bye, mom." Buffy called back, shutting the door of the car a little more forcefully than she intended, then turning and heading towards the front steps of Sunnydale High School. She suddenly noticed that she felt a little self-conscious, kind of like she did on her first day here only one year ago. God, It's like I'm worried about impressing someone, or getting attention.but the only people here that I really care about are my friends, and I don't have to impress them.She shrugged off the thoughts that were running rampant in her head and tried to ignore the fluttery feeling she was feeling in the pit of her stomach, after all, it's not like she had a reason to be nervous.did she? 


	2. wierd feelings and a new student!

"Hey Buffy!"  
  
"Buffster, long time no see!"  
  
Buffy smiled and waved at her two best friends, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris. "Hi guys!"  
  
"So how was your summer?" the redheaded Willow inquired. "I mean, it wasn't that bad, was it?"  
  
"No. In fact it was pretty.boring."  
  
"What, no hordes of demons and greusome slayage every night? How awful!" Xander quipped, always ready to supply the unneeded sarcastic remark, when the time was right. Actually, even when the time was not right.  
  
"Yeah, I know," Buffy agreed with Xander. "The only things I was allowed to kill were my dad's credit cards, and even shoppin ggot old fast-and believe me, I do like to shop."  
  
"Well, not everyone can be like Cordelia Chase," the dark haired boy said. "Speak of the devil, if it isn't the lovely Miss Chase right now!" Xander's voice was once again dripping with sarcasm.  
  
Cordelia was walking down the hallway, surprisingly not surrounded by her fellow fashion-snobs or groupie-wannabes, and turned towards them at Xander's comment. "Oh god, it's you three. Did you have a nice time killing vampires all summer?" she asked, a little too loudly.  
  
"You know, Cordelia," Buffy jumped in, in an effort to shut the dark-haired would-be beauty queen up, "Sometimes when you talk about things like that, people think you're crazy, or even worse, weird."  
  
Cordelia looked like she was about to fire back at Buffy with something equally as embarrasing as her first comment, so Willow decided it was time for a subject change. "So, Cordelia, did you have a nice summer?"  
  
"Yes, thank you Willow. At least someone is considerate enough to ask, after all, I did go out of my way to talk to you three."  
  
"Gee, if it's so out of your way then how come you're still here?" Xander asked, rather obnoxiously.  
  
"Well.I.was just leaving!" And with that Cordelia turned and walked off.  
  
Buffy, Xander, and Willow watched her turn around and stalk off, but when she was out of hearing distance, Willow turned back to her friends and said, "That was odd."  
  
"You mean, Cordelia being a bitch is strange?" Xander asked.  
  
Buffy cut in, "No, Will, I agree. Since when did Cordelia want to give us the time of day before, at least in public," she reasoned. It was kind of strange for Cordelia to be alone, too, but she decided to keep the thought to herself. None of them really wanted to start analyzing Cordelia right now. "I'm gonna go see Giles, and then I'll meet you guys in English."  
  
"Okay, Buff."  
  
"See you in a few."  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Buffy parted from her friends and walked towards the library. She knew Giles would probably want to know how her patrol went last night, and there was a book that she had to get for english class-summer reading. I hope we don't have a test on it or anything. Maybe Willow can fill me in a little bit before class starts. Buffy was not fond of english class, and she sort of forgot she even had to read over the summer. Besides she was busy. Well, not really.  
  
Buffy's mind started to wander and she walked towards the Library on autopilot, not really even needing to pay attention since her feet had followed the same route so many times before. She was so preoccupied that she was barely aware of the people around her in the hallway, talking, laughing, catching up after the summer, and going to class. She suddenly became alert to a very strange feeling-like the one she had had earlier before school, but tried to brush off. In fact, she had been having these feelings ever since she got back from Los Angeles-if not before that. While she was in L.A., things were all fine and normal, but during her last week or two there she started to get extremely restless. She had to get back to Sunnydale. It was as if some force was pulling her towards her home. She had just brushed the feelings off, thinking they were due to her lack of slaying and major demon activity over the summer. Then as soon as she was home, the feelings grew stronger. Even during her patrol, she felt a couple of times like someone or something was watching her. And now, walking down the hallway towards the library, she was getting the same feelings-as if her stomach was doing flip-flops. She couldn't tell if it was anxiety or.well she just wasn't sure what the feelings were.  
  
Buffy mindlessly swung open the library door, and went to walk in and .CraSH! She had walked straight into someone who was apparently on his way out. She instantly snapped out of her own world and returned to reality. "Oh, sorry!" she mumbled, not looking up right away.  
  
"It's okay." "Buffy! Glad to see you've made it," Giles shouted from the library counter. "I see you've met the new student, then?!"  
  
Buffy turned to face the person that she had walked, or rather, slammed into, and her breath caught in her throat. She could feel her cheeks flush, and she suddenly felt like an idiot. She had carelessy walked into one of the most handsome guys she had ever seen. Handsome is probably an understatement, she thought.  
  
He was tall, well built (make that really hot!), with dark brown hair that was short and a little spikey in the front. However, it wasn't his body or his hair that made Buffy so.shocked. She found herself caught in his eyes, almost spellbound. He had beautiful chocolate brown eyes, flecked with light, and so deep she thought she would drown in them. And his eyes held so much more than he outwardly displayed-such as amusement, mystery, even.surprise?  
  
"Ahem.um.Buffy, this is Angel," Giles interrupted the two students who were simply just staring staring at eachother for what seemed like endless minutes. "Angel is new here this year. He just moved her from.did you say Los Angeles?"  
  
Angel momentarily broke away from the beautiful blonde girl standing in front of him. "Yes, I just got here a few weeks ago." He might have been answering Giles' question, but he was still focused on the girl. "It's nice to meet you."  
  
"Uh, nice to meet you, too," She managed to stammer in reply. His name is "Angel"? What a different.beautiful name.  
  
"I better get to class," Angel said. He smiled at Buffy, making her feel like melting, and headed out the library doors.  
  
Giles watched Buffy as her eyes never once left the new, dark-haired student, following him even as he turned and walked out the doors. She looked as if she was lost somewhere that was not Sunnydale High School.  
  
"Buffy?" he asked, once again drawing her back to reality.  
  
"Oh, sorry. What did you say?"  
  
Giles tried to suppress a smile as he saw the girl in front of him transform from vampire slayer to googly-eyed teenage girl. "I just wanted to ask you how last night went."  
  
TBC... 


	3. english class

"Oh, patrol. It was fine. Good. I killed a couple vamps, no big deal." Buffy told her watcher, trying to focus on the present, and not the weird feelings she was having, or the.handsome new student. Maybe I should tell Giles about these feelings, maybe he'll know something, an explanation or something. "Giles, I have been having really weird feelings ever since I got back from L.A. Wait.no.even before I got back. Do you think they mean anything?"  
  
"Well, what kind of feelings?" Giles asked, trying to illicit more information.  
  
"Well, when I was in L.A., I felt like I needed to be home, like something was pulling me here," she began. "And then when I got back, the feelings got even stronger. It even seemed a couple of times like there was someone or something there when I was patrolling a couple of times. And I felt them just a little while ago." Buffy quickly realized what just happened a few moments ago, and blushed a little. "Not when I ran into Angel.I mean." Buffy was quickly talking trying to make it clear that she meant in school, and not when she was caught up with the new student. But.I think the feelings got stronger as I made my way here, and then.crash! I wonder if he has something to do with this. No, how could he? That's ridiculous.  
  
"I don't really know what to tell you, Buffy. Perhaps it's just.vibes.you're getting from the Hellmouth, after all, you are the slayer. But I'll see if I can find anything. Meanwhile, you should go to class."  
  
"Yes, right, Hellmouth vibes. That's probably it.class! I'm gonna be late! Thanks. Bye!" And with that she turned away and fled out the double doors, leaving Giles decidedly amused and perplexed at her behavior, and wondering what her "weird feelings" were all about.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
"Buffy Summers, nice of you to join us," said Mr. Greene, teacher of English Literature at SHS. He sounded bored, and a little annoyed. "Please have a seat."  
  
Buffy mumbled a quick apology to her teacher and quickly scanned the room for an empty seat. The only one she could find was behind her good friend Willow (that's good) and in front of (Oh no!) Angel! Just relax, she told herself, it's not like I should be embarrassed in front of him or anything, I just ran right into him and then stood there like a gawking idiot! She took a deep breath and walked to the sole empty desk, focusing on Willow as she sat down and not the boy behind her.  
  
"Hey, Buffy." Willow said quietly as Buffy took her seat behind the redhead.  
  
"Hi. Did I miss anything?" Buffy said, equally as quietly, not wanting to get in trouble again, after only being in class for barely a minute.  
  
"Nope. He just barely stood up to start when you came in." "Oh good, I think." Buffy sighed with relief. I certainly don't need to start getting behind in my first class of the first day of the school year. I said I was going to work harder this year in school, and getting behind is not going to help that.  
  
"Okay." Began the teacher, now standing at the front of the room. "Since we are all here now, I would like to begin by announcing that you will all have assigned seats in my class. Starting today, the seat you are in now will become your seat. Now I will hand out the books. Only write your name in the front cover. If you lose, ruin, or even write in these books you will have to buy another one, and these are not cheap people."  
  
Mr. Greene started handing out the big, thick "English Lit." books that were piled on his desk. He was older, with gray hair that looked disheveled, small wire-rimmed glasses that sat low on his nose, and a facial expression that appeared chronically bored until he started teaching. Literature was his passion, and he became very animated and lively when he started teaching. However, he was still strict, and seemed to like his books more than his students. "Take one and pass the rest back."  
  
Willow took three of the big, heavy books from their teacher, and turned to pass two of them to Buffy, who took them as if they weighed nothing. She set one on her desk and turned slightly to pass the last book to the boy behind her, trying to avoid making eye contact with him.  
  
"Thanks," he said, as he took the book from her hands, a little puzzled as to why she would not even look at him now. He hoped she wasn't still upset after running into him in the library, after all, it happens all the time. He decided that he would try talking to her after class. He had to talk to her-there was something about her that seemed to draw him towards her. He figured it could be just because she was beautiful, and hot, too, but he had wanted girls before, and this felt different, the strange feelings that he was having lately only seemed to increase when she was around, and he had to figure some things out..  
  
Little did Angel know that Buffy was probably thinking the same thing.  
  
TBC. 


	4. oh! the possibilities

Buffy, Willow, and Xander were standing at their lockers as the last bell of the school day rang. "Well, guys, our first day back at school is finally over, and we survived," Willow said jokingly.  
  
"Yeah, surviving is definitely a good thing," Buffy agreed. She, for one, was definitely relieved that school was over. She discovered that she had two classes with the new boy, and both of those classes seemed to go on forever. She knew there was no reason for her to feel odd around him, but she couldn't help feeling a little.nervous? Not really a bad thing, just something Buffy wasn't really wanting to deal with at the moment. She decided that it must just be that he was really attractive, and nothing more. A couple of times he looked as if he was going to say something to her, but she quickly turned all of her attention on someone or something else, trying to look busy so he wouldn't want to interrupt. God, I'm acting crazily. I don't even know him, and just because he's hot doesn't mean that I have to get all flustered. I've got to get a hold on myself. Focus.  
  
Willow and Xander both noticed that Buffy was sort of staring off into the distance. She looked like there was something on her mind. "Buffy?" No response. Xander waved his hand in front of her face. "Earth to Buffy!"  
  
"Huh?" Buffy snapped out of her reverie. "What?"  
  
"Buff, are you alright?" Xander asked her.  
  
"Sure. Why not?" Buffy smiled at her two concerned friends. "I was just spacing I guess."  
  
"Okay. So, are we Bronze-ing it tonight?"  
  
"Yeah, I think it might be a good night for Bronze-ing, are you up for it Buff?" Willow asked.  
  
"Um, Yeah, sure. It's not like I have a lot of homework tonight, but I want to patrol after, so let's meet a little earlier?"  
  
"How 'bout eight?" Xander suggested.  
  
"Sounds great!"  
  
"Good. Then I will see you two lovely ladies later." And with that Xander bowed and swaggered off down the hallway, leaving Buffy and Willow watching him with amusement. Once he was gone, Buffy turned back to her locker to get her things, and then she and Willow turned to leave.  
  
As they were walking out of the building, Willow turned to Buffy, still concerned. "Is something bothering you?"  
  
"No, why?" Buffy plastered a big, fake smile on her face.  
  
"Well, you kinda had that look on your face, you know, like something's bothering you."  
  
Buffy sighed. "You know me too well, Will. Actually, this probably sounds kind of stupid, but I've been getting these really weird feelings lately, and I don't really know what's causing them."  
  
"Oh. Did you tell Giles?"  
  
"Yeah, I talked to him this morning. He said he would check on it, but that maybe it was just Hellmouth-Slayer vibes or something."  
  
Willow studied her friend carefully. It was obvious that Buffy didn't think it was "Hellmouth-Slayer vibes". "What do you think it is, Buffy?"  
  
"Well, Giles is probably right.but.well, I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's from the Hellmouth. And call me crazy, but the feeling got really intense when I was around a specific person."  
  
"Who?" Willow's curiosity was peaked.  
  
"Well." Buffy's cheeks flushed a little bit. She hoped Willow wouldn't think she was silly. "Actually, it's the new kid."  
  
"Oh, you mean Angel, from our English class?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Willow thought for a minute, and then she looked back at her friend with a twinkle in her eye. "He's pretty hot, don't you think?"  
  
Buffy blushed again. "Totally. But what does he have to do with my weird slayer-feelings?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe they're just.crush-feelings?"  
  
"I thought about that, Will, believe me, but these are definitely not lustful, crush-type feelings. Plus, I've been having them for weeks, and I've only known him for a day, not even."  
  
"Maybe they're just nothing. I wouldn't worry about it right now. If they're anything major then Giles will find out."  
  
Buffy nodded. "You're probably right. I should just try to not let it bother me."  
  
Willow smiled at her best friend, and decided to change the subject a little. "Maybe Angel will come to the Bronze tonight?!"  
  
"Maybe," Buffy said. "That would be.interesting."  
  
"Well, I'll see you then." And the redhead turned to walk the opposite direction.  
  
"Bye, Wills, see ya!" Buffy walked towards her house, suddenly feeling like a great burden had been lifted off her shoulders. Willow is probably right, I should just forget about it, it's nothing big. Then she started to think about later, Maybe Angel will show up at the Bronze. That could be good. I should wear something.nice. Buffy walked home with a smile lighting her features, thinking about the possibilities.  
  
TBC. 


End file.
